and then suddenly

[wildestranger]

Yesterday I went to a conference, and had to stop in the middle of my presentation because I was about to faint. Fun times! I have no idea what happened, suddenly I just started feeling weak and had to decide whether it would be more embarrassing to pause, or to pass out. Went for the former.

I was fine after a few moments, had some fresh air and some juice and then finished my presentation, but it was quite strange. I have never fainted before in my life, and in the middle of a conference is surely not the place to start. Argh, body, why so faily?

Otoh, I did end up convincing a lot of people to read The Charioteer (the topic of my paper), and sat next to a fandom person in the restaurant after the conference - we chatted about Torchwood and Supernatural, and why Crowley and Gabriel are hilarious and delightful - so that was fun.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_emeraldgreen/]

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that - I hope you are ok. ♥ Fainting is not fun in any circumstances.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Feeling much better today, thanks! It's just a bit weird.

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that sounds most unpleasant. Well done for managing to get back and finish your presentation anyway.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am glad it only took a few minutes, if that - basically I just sat down, took a few deep breaths and some juice, and then started reading again. Once the humming in my ears had stopped. :)

[yan-tan-tether.livejournal.com]

Eeek, I'm glad you're feeling better now!

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Yeah, at least it didn't last! I'm just puzzled as to the cause.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Have you had a check-up lately?

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

I tend not to get general check-ups as such - because I have a chronic illness and take medication for it, I get blood tests done frequently and so forth. But it might not be a bad idea to make sure that everything else is okay.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

Might be wise. Fainting at your age is unusual.

[kyasuriin.livejournal.com]

oh, I just saw a review of Charioteer and thought it looked interesting. I imagine, since you presented on it, that it's good?

[kyasuriin.livejournal.com]

and way to be insensitive, Kat! I also meant to say, before I got distracted by the book, was I hope you're feeling better and it was just the heat or low blood sugar or something relatively minor.

[mysid.livejournal.com]

READ IT! READ IT! READ IT!

Really. You'll be glad you did. (The story doesn't get going until Chapter Two, so don't let Chapter One scare you off.)

And congrats, wildestranger on a successful presentation despite the faintyness.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Isn't it wonderful? I reread it for the fifth time for this presentation and still discovered new things.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Sorry I didn't respond to this earlier - I'm rubbish about responding to comments after the day of posting - but yes, you should read it! It's my favourite novel of all time and it's brilliant. There's also some quite good slash about it.